Chef Basics Cooking Principles

8/10/2019 Chef Basics Cooking Principles

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Principles of CookingTo cook foods successfully, you must understand the science and principles of cooking.

Now, bear with me. Yes, this page is about the science and principles of gourmet cooking,but please trust me, it is neither difficult to understand nor boring. It is merely the stating of a few basic facts that we all need to know to better understand what is happening whenwe apply heat to food.

Cooking is simply the transfer of energy from a heat source to a food. To cook foodssuccessfully, you must understand the ways in which heat is transferred conduction,con!ection and radiation.

"ost important, specific to the principles of cooking, you must understand the methodsused to transfer heat broiling, grilling, roasting and baking, sauteing, pan#frying, deep#frying, poaching, simmering, boiling, steaming, braising and stewing . . .

$hat are these methods% $hy do some work better than others on certain foods%

&eat Transfer 'ccording to the principles of cooking, heat is a type of energy. $hen a substance getshot, the molecules ha!e absorbed energy, which causes the molecules to !ibrate rapidly.The molecules start to e(pand and bounce off one another. 's the molecules mo!e, theycollide with nearby molecules, causing a transfer of heat energy.

&eat transfer can be transferred to foods through conduction, con!ection, or radiation. &eat tra!els through foods by conduction.

Conduction

Conduction, one of the most basic principles of cooking, is the mo!ement of heat fromone item to another through direct contact . )or e(ample, when a flame touches thebottom of a pan, heat is conducted to the pan.

*enerally, metals are good conductors. Copper and aluminum are the best conductors,while li+uids and gases are poor conductors.

Conduction is a slow method of heat transfer because there must be physical contact fromone molecule to another.

Con!ection

Con!ection is the transfer of heat through a fluid . The fluid may be in a li+uid or gasstate. 'ccording to the principles of cooking, there are types of con!ection natural andmechanical.

Natural con!ection causes a natural circulation of heat because warm li+uids and gasesha!e a tendency to rise while cooler ones fall.


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li+uid at room temperature. )ats melt when heated and then gradually li+uefy. )ats will note!aporate.

6ry &eat Cooking "ethods6ry heat cooking methods include broiling, grilling, roasting, baking, sauteing, pan#frying,and deep#frying. b!iously, it would be !ery hard to be a gourmet cook and not be familiar with all of these cooking methods.

Certain meats and !egetables thri!e under the broiler, while others cry out for the roaster. Itall depends on the cuts and what you want to do with them.

&ere0s a +uick run down of the ma2or dry heat cooking methods to gi!e you a basicsense of what they0re all about . . .

7roiling

7roiling, an often o!erlooked but wonderful dry heat cooking method, uses radiant heatfrom an o!erhead source to cook foods.

Procedure for 7roiling )oods

&eat the broiler.

$ipe the broiler grate clean with a lightly oiled towel. This will remo!e any particles andhelp season it.

Prepare the food to be broiled. 3ub, season, or marinate it, as desired.

Put food in the broiler, presentation side down. If the item is oblong, place at a 81#degree angle to the bars on the grate. Cook long enough for the food to de!eloplines. Pull out the sliding grate and turn food o!er at a 9:#degree angle, workingfrom left to right.

*rilling

*rilling is a dry heat cooking method similar to broiling, e(cept grilling uses a heat sourcebeneath the cooking surface.

Procedure for *rilling )oods

&eat the grill.

;se a wire brush to remo!e any burnt particles and then season with a lightly oiledtowel.

Prepare the food to be broiled. 3ub, season, or marinate it, as desired.

Place food on the grill, presentation side down.

Turn the food to produce the crosshatch marks associated with grilling. If the item is


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oblong, place it at a 81#degree angle. 3otate food 9:#degrees and let it cook longenough for the grates to char it. Turn the food o!er and finish cooking it. You don0tha!e to create crosshatch markings on the re!erse side.

"ay I recommend a wonderful book on grilling. amison. I ha!e met this couple and they are !eryknowledgeable about charcoal and gas grilling. I personally ha!e this book and ha!emade many great recipes from it?

3oasting and 7aking

The roasting and baking dry heat cooking methods surround the food with dry, heated air ina closed en!ironment. &eat is transferred by con!ection to the food0s surface, and thenpenetrates the food by conduction. The surface dehydrates, and the food browns fromcarmeli-ation.

Procedure for 3oasting or 7aking )oods

Preheat the o!en.

Prepare the food. "arinate or season as desired.

Place the food on a rack or in a roasting pan or baking dish.

3oast the food, unco!ered. 7aste as necessary. 7aste # moisten foods during cooking.

Cook to desired internal temperature. "any foods will undergo


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pan that is too large may cause the fat to burn.

The food should be turned to achei!e the proper color. The heat should be high enoughto complete the cooking process before the food begins to stew in its own 2uices.

6oneness is determined by timing or touch.

Pan#)ryingPan#)rying is similar to sauteing and deep#frying. It is a dry heat cooking method in whichheat is transferred by conduction from the pan to the food, using a moderate amount of fat.)oods to be pan#fryed are usually breaded.

Procedure )or Pan#)rying )oods

Prepare the food. 7atter or flour as desired.

&eat enough fat or oil to co!er the item one#third to halfway up its sides. The oil shouldnot be as hot as used in sauteing, but should crackle. If the temperature of the oil is

too low, the food will absorb e(cess amounts of fat. If the temperature of the oil istoo high, the food will burn on the outside before the inside is done.

'dd food to the pan. 'lways turn the food away from you to pre!ent being burned bythe oil. ;se tongs to do this and do not pierce the food.

)ry the food until brown on both sides.

3emo!e the food and drain on a paper towel.

"y most used pan of all is the B < )rying Pan. If I were to choose what piece of 'll#

Clad to get, it would ha!e to be this pan.

6eep#)rying

6eep#)rying is a dry heat cooking method that uses conduction and con!ection to transfer heat to food submerged in hot fat. 6eep#)rying sounds similar to boiling, but boiling is amoist#heat method containing water and deep#frying is a dry heat cooking method, sincethe food is submerged in fat that does not contain water.

The boiling point, B degrees, is the hottest temperature at which foods can be cooked inwater. $ith the deep#frying dry heat cooking method, temperatures of up to 8:: degreesare used.

Procedure for 6eep#)rying )oods

Prepare the food. 7read or batter as desired.

&eat the oil or fat to the desired temperature.

Carefully, place the food in the hot fat.


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6oneness is determined by timing, surface color, or sampling.

Transfer food to a pan lined with papertowels.

"oist &eat Cooking "ethodsThere are four basic moist heat cooking methods. "oist heat refers to applying heat tofood by submerging it into a hot li+uid or by e(posing it to steam . 'll four proceduresare integral to a professional chef0s cooking repertoire, and I recommend to you as well.

Poaching

Poaching is a basic moist heat cooking method. It uses con!ection to transfer heat from ali+uid to a food. It usually applies to eggs, fruit, or fish. These foods do not re+uire lengthycooking times.

The food is placed in a li+uid at temperatures between B : degrees and BD: degrees. Thesurface of the li+uid should show slight mo!ement, but no bubbles.

The two methods of poaching are submersion poaching and shallow poaching.

5ubmersion poaching means the food is completely co!ered with the li+uid.

5hallow poaching means the food is placed in 2ust enough li+uid to come halfway up thesides. 5hallow poaching combines aspects of poaching and steaming.

Procedure for Poaching )oods

Prepare the food.7ring the li+uid to the desired temperature.

)or submersion poaching, the li+uid should completely co!er the food.

)or shallow poaching, the li+uid should come halfway up the side of the food. If shallowpoaching, co!er the pan with a lid or a piece of buttered parchment paper.

6oneness is determined by timing, internal temperature, or tenderness.

The cooking li+uid can be used for a sauce or reser!ed for use in other dishes.

I use this pan a lot for poaching because it is deep and has a lid.

5immering

5immering is one of the most widely used moist heat cooking methods. It uses con!ectionto transfer heat from a li+uid to a food. Properly simmered foods should be !ery moist andtender. The li+uid temperature should be from BD1 degrees to :1 degrees.


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Procedure for 5immering )oods

Prepare the food.

7ring the li+uid to the proper temperature. The food should be co!ered in the li+uidcompletely.

'dd the food to the simmering pot.

6oneness is determined through timing or tenderness.

7oiling

7oiling is probably the most widely used of the moist heat cooking methods. It uses theprocess of con!ection to transfer heat from a li+uid to a food. 7oiling uses large amounts of rapidly bubbling li+uid to cook foods. "ost


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Combination Cooking "ethods"y fa!orite two types of combination cooking methods are braising and stewing. Idon0t know why, but some would#be cooks seem to shy away from these two methods of cooking. "aybe it0s because they are referred to as


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Prepare a sauce from the braising li+uid if desired. 't the end of cooking, the li+uid inthe pot may already be thick enough and intensely fla!ored enough for a lu(urioussauce without further steps, but most sauces will benefit from reducing. Transfer thebraised food to a warm platter and tent it with foil.

Taste the sauce, if it seems thinner or paler in fla!or than you want, set the pot on a

burner and bring the li+uid to a brisk simmer. 5tir to scrape up any bits sticking tothe bottom of the pan, and simmer the li+uid, tasting periodically, until it reaches thedesired consistency. The li+uid will thicken as water e!aporates from it # it0s calledreducing. 6on0t season the sauce before it0s reducedE taste it at the end and thenadd salt or pepper if it0s needed.

5tewing

5tewing is also made up of a combination of dry and moist heat cooking methods. 5tewingusually uses smaller pieces of food , which are first cooked either by browning in fat or oil. Cooking is finished in a li+uid or sauce.

Procedure for 5tewing )oodsCut food into small pieces. 6redge the pieces in flour, if desired.

&eat a small amount of fat in a pan. 5ear the food on all sides de!eloping color.

'dd any other ingredients and saute.

'dd flour or rou(.

*radually add the cooking li+uid, stirring to pre!ent lumps. The li+uid should completelyco!er the food.

Co!er and simmer until tender.

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Chef Basics Cooking Principles